Happy New Year, Susan! Of course a colder, shorter, harsher climate can stunt or dwarf a plant, any kind of plant. Evidence of roses producing smaller plants in more northern, or areas of greater "winter" weather abound. Often, the milder, more even the climate, the larger many will acheive. It could also be a maturity issue. Here, Mlle. de Sombreuil climbs, but still requires the three or so years to generate the roots under it to push the greater top growth. Yes, Fortuniana should help quite a bit, but how much of that extra "oomph" from the stock is negated by the deeper cold? And, of course, should the rose root itself and lose the stock, the Fortuniana (or any other selection) would make for moot points. You might actually have better, faster performance if the rose was budded on multiflora. It would make a very interesting experiment, wouldn't it? Kim

I personally have at about 5000ft elev in SW Montana: 1)William Baffin - reachingabout 10' now after 10 years, up and over an archway, with Clematis "Bluebird" threatening to take it over each summer! Low care, rarely dead to cut out, no spray, annual feeding of composted manure and annual Bayer Tree and Shrub application. 2) Adelaide Hoodless: Never much die back but i cut it back pretty hard becasue it is a flopper otherwise - 3-4 ft H & W, a nice recurrent red. 3) Champlain: Took them all out last year - one of the prettiest hardy everblooming reds but two years of dieback followed by recurrent bouts of powdery mildew means they can't stay in my postage stamp size of a garden... 4) Flower Girl: a floribunda with minimal dieback and pretty clusters of baby pink single flowers. to 2 ft. No disease issues. 5) David Austin's Gertrude Jeckyll: Dies back some years but rebounds well to 3-3.5ft and the fragrance from these large mauve blossoms is out of this world!!!! 6) Rosa glauca - red leaf rose to 8 ft H That foliage, those hips!!!! 7) Austrian Copper - a bugger with black spot but needed the orange in that spot - it will go when I expand the grape arbor! 8) John Franklin - a lovely red with the sweetest form in bud and flower, nice clean foliage and overall shape. I don't grow any of the rugosa hybrids that have the matte foliage such as hansa and Belle Poitevin - the flowers are gorgeous but they are particularly resentful of our alkaline soils, even with heavy ammending. That is my current inventory but I have grown others in this area: a quick list...Bonica - lt pink,Graham Thomas - a DA yellow, Henry Kelsey - red climber, Knock out - red, any of the Morden series, Winnipeg Parks - rosy pink with good foliage, Therese Bugnet - nice pink but sometime chlorotic... Looking to try Starry Night as I don't currently have a white and maybe add another DA or 2! happy rose growing to all!

It’s weird, I have one bush that really struggles, and the same bush that’s like 10’ away doing fairly well for the location (roadside)..the one that’s doing bad I blame on a maple tree that used to be right next to it..I just cut that tree down last year (hated the thing anyway) and the bush is doing a little better...not tremendously better..but I’ll know more after this growing season...this is also the bush that had issues with mildew (the healthy one never has) but again prior to maple tree being cut down...after tree gone, no mildew..it’s weird.

Whoa, this looked better on my phone/tablet, I swear! 'Florentina' again. From ARE, didn't bloom the first year I got her, then threw a bunch of blooms at me after I moved her! She must have feared the shovel, ha! More LOS Here's LOS, 'Julia Child', and 'Princess Elise', with either Winter Sun/Winter Sunset on the right, just out of sight. That's a 'Walker's Low' catmint in the front, which I might move to the back of the tower. I had 'America' sweet peas in the middle of this one. This is the basic design of my towers, for now - three (supposed to be) short roses in the front, and climbers on the towers. I can't remember if this one is 'Bolero', 'Wedding Garland', or 'Honeymoon'. I'm thinking it's Bolero. Apparently I didn't get any pics of 'Honeymoon' or 'Wedding Garland'. I'll have to fix that this spring!